IRL: Phoenix: Dario Franchitti preview

Dario Franchitti on the Copper World Indy 200
"I was plenty hungry for a good run heading into the race at Homestead,
so you can only imagine how I'm feeling heading into Phoenix. I want
to get out there and run at the front, I want to get...

Dario Franchitti on the Copper World Indy 200

"I was plenty hungry for a good run heading into the race at Homestead,
so you can only imagine how I'm feeling heading into Phoenix. I want
to get out there and run at the front, I want to get out there and win
races, so why not just start at Phoenix?

"Phoenix is obviously a much different challenge than what we had at
Homestead, but we tested reasonably well there in the ArcaEx car.
Between the four of us (AGR drivers), I think at one point or another
we were all in fairly good shape during the test, so I'm really looking
forward to putting it all together this weekend."

Dario Franchitti Facts

Phoenix marks Franchitti's sixth IndyCar Series start and second career
start at PIR

Franchitti finished 16th in this event in 2003 after starting ninth
(gearbox failure)

Franchitti opened the season Feb. 29 with a 17th place finish at
Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was the result of an accident on lap 104
of 200

During the IRL Open Test at Phoenix Feb. 11-12, Franchitti posted the
fourth- fastest lap (176.889 miles per hour) among all IndyCar Series
competitors over the course of the two-day session

Franchitti posted one top-five and two top-10 finishes in three IndyCar
Series starts in 2003

Franchitti has 10 major open-wheel racing victories and 11 career pole
positions

Andretti Green Racing Team Facts

Andretti Green Racing has two wins and three poles in the IndyCar Series

Andretti Green is the defending winner of this event (Tony Kanaan)
and led 102 of the 200 laps at Phoenix in 2003 (Kanaan - 79, Michael
Andretti - 23); Kanaan also won the pole for the 2003 race

Andretti Green has had at least one car in the top-five in seven
consecutive

IndyCar Series events dating back to Aug. 10, 2003

AGR has fielded at least three cars in each IndyCar Series event it has
entered

AGR entries have combined for 23 top-five finishes in 17 career IndyCar
Series races

AGR has placed two cars in the top-five of an event seven times

Kyle Moyer, General Manager, Andretti Green Racing:

"I thought Dario got back in the saddle really well at Homestead, but
didn't get a chance to contend at the end so I know he's really ready
to get on down the road and get a win at Phoenix. The ArcaEx team is
pretty confident heading into the race and the test went fairly well, so
I think Dario should be pretty tough this weekend."